We Tested Walmart, Target and Amazon’s Delivery Speeds | WSJ Shipping Wars

Amazon, Walmart and Target are investing big in new processes to cut down delivery time. Each company has developed its own strategies for faster shipping, but how do customers know which option to use to ensure they get their products quickly? WSJ read your comments on our Shipping Wars series, and you didn’t hold back.

WSJ explains how an abundance of fast-shipping options make a difference to you, the consumer.

Chapters:
0:00 Shipping options
0:36 Viewer comments
1:22 Consumer cost
2:29 Consumer expectations

#Amazon #Walmart #Target

[LoganX]

Was I the only one expecting a video where they order the same product from different locations to actually test delivery speeds?

[TonyVainosky]

Well, this video certainly missed the mark imo. Was expecting an actual head to head delivery challenge between the retailers 🤷‍♂️

[jdm]

When I'm almost out of toothpaste I stop at my nearby store or pharmacy. Zero wait time. Slightly more expensive, sometimes. Sometimes not. Zero stolen packages from front porch. Zero miss deliveries or missing items. Zero need for a follow up.

[Username-hwee]

I'd love an option to drop off used amazon boxes. These are perfectly fine cardboard boxes that are used once and get trashed the majority of the time. A few people recycle near me, but i would bet the majority dont recycle anything. I would personally collect a month worth of boxes and drop them off somewhere to be reused if they would take them. Or multi use plastic bins that have some sort of deposit to be returned.

[LostMySauce]

Same day shipping should be a privilege that costs the customer extra. Just to think 20 years ago, we were happy when our online order showed up at the door within 2 weeks, not 2 days.

[siamimam]

People don’t understand the negatives of same day orders. Amazon send us multiple times in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes they will send 2-3 drivers to the same house in a span of 1hr. Customers need to understand what does behind the logistics. Bundling orders and having everything delivered at once can lower their carbon footprint

[ropro]

I agree with the comments highlighted from the previous video. I don't care about same day or 2 day delivery. Honestly, if I needed something like toothpaste, I'd rather just walk to my local drugstore to buy a single tube rather than having to buy 3-5 tubes online. However, due to the rampant retail thefts, every single drug store near me has been permanently closed. 🤬

[LSDOGWALKER]

The strain that these time constraints put on the sub contracted delivery drivers for Amazon must be insane. People need to temper their expectations and plan ahead a little better...

[mervs-verves]

Imagine buying a couple boxes of toothpaste via an app and waiting a day or three for it to arrive.

Might be faster to just head to your nearest store and buy them yourself.

One/two-day shipping might be convenient for the mobility-impaired, but for the rest of us? Hmm

[MattCRHughes]

This has been an interesting video series. Thanks for producing it!

[TheTransitCamera]

Ugh I must not be very hip. I just notice, hey, my toothpaste is 3/4 empty, and I'll put it on my list of stuff for the next shopping trip...

[kassimbabika]

Remember the days when 5 day shipping was normal, 2-3 days was fast and next day was almost unheard of or ridicoulously expensive? How things change...

[thmaster]

4:18 Fast, faster, fastest. At the expense of the employees.

[vaderwashere]

I like having the options that Amazon usually provides. Do I need it same day, overnight, 2 days, or 1 week. I rarely pick the same day or overnight, but it is great when I need it. Amazon used to provide $1 digital credit to slow down shipping - which I did a lot. Now they offer an extra 1% if you use your Amazon credit card. It isn't a lot, but I haven't seen other retailers reward you like that for not needing faster shipping. I don't buy from Walmart, but I do order from Target and Amazon. Just glad we have so many options and can pick what we prefer.

[blue_minnow]

I agree with the need for higher quality products. Buying a simple thing like a phone case on Amazon is like russian roulette with all those one-off unknown name brands. Some are great, and some are garbage, both for the same price. Amazon needs a better screening mechanism for products.

[aslamnurfikri]

Meanwhile I can walk to nearest warung/convenience store and buy a toothpaste myself in 10 minutes

[TooLiveChris]

What bothers me the most about Target is that in my experience, the store places seemingly arbitrary rules around the items that I want to be delivered. I will be shopping online for items that I normally buy in-store and some of the items are two-hour delivery only, some are two day shipping only and some are in-store pick up only all in the same cart. The worst part is there doesn’t seem to be any consistent reason as to why all the items can’t all be shipped using the same method. Months later that same item that was “In-Store Pick Up Only” is now only available for 2 hour delivery or vice versa. The whole experience is very frustrating and confusing.

[codybrown]

I would bet money everyone complaining about fast shipping has an amazon prime membership

[alicebenard]

Managing money is different from accumulating wealth, and the lack of investment education in schools may explain why people struggle to maintain their financial gains. The examples you provided are relevant, and I personally benefited from the market crisis, as I embrace challenging times while others tend to avoid them. Well, at least my advisor does too, jokingly.

[RAZ]

Sure the packages came on time for Brooklyn, what about rural areas of the country? Amazon has always been slow in my location but when wildfire closed one out of the 3 highways into our community they completely failed to deliver at all. USPS and every other shipping company simply rerouted their trucks within their network around the road closure while Amazon packages just stopped.